Critiquing Multimedia 3/3

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24014376/

Now that I am on the last leg I realize that I have not given you a working definition of what multimedia is.

A multimedia story is one that uses elements such as text, still photographs, video clips, audio, graphics and interactivity to present a information to the public. Hence the name "multi- (more than one) media." There are sites that have multi-media elements but do not fully fit the bill. This is because a true multimedia pieces uses the elements to introduce new elements. For example the writer quotes one man's journey to Mount Everest. A possible audio clip could be his explaining what made him do it, the process etc. Also if it there is time maybe a clip of his family - how they felt while he was risking his life etc.

Ok, so back to my critique. "Punto Finale!"

The lead photo did not grab me as much as that of the other two previous critiques. This time it was the headline that pulled me.

I did like the placement of the photo though. I also liked the layout of the first part of the story. The photo is located at the top left of the story while there are two videos beside it. Having read the entire story and the watched all the related videos, I think I could have gotten a good idea of what the story is about from the first two or so paragraphs and the videos.

The first video has a bit of repetition but I guess that is to provide background for the video since it was used for television news as well. It introduced new information into the piece. The video technique was good, the videographer used zooming and other techniques to enhance the clip.

I liked the second clip as well. It also had some repetition but it was only a few seconds worth. It also introduced valuable information to the story. One of my points upon my initial read of the story was that it was not balanced, that is it has about two voices from person who have lived in compound arguing that it was a much better life but this was not matched with people against it. This video (Exodus) tries to address that with a clip from a woman who lived the experience and ran away to a better life.

There are an additional five video clips to the right of the article. While they are good in their own right I was not convinced that they should have such pride of place. My only way of rationalizing it is that perhaps because the page had a large number of hits they decide to add other features to encourage further reading.

Again I not the placement of the ad and how it breaks the flow but perhaps this is MSNBC's layout style.

The two-page article allowed readers to add their comments to the article. This was a good use of multimedia elements. It served to get the reader involved in the matter. One very good point that stood out for me was the comment made by a man that if he 18-year-old son had sex with a 14-year-old he would be facing sexual charges while the 50-year-old men on the compound are not. This is a good point. Why are so few men charged?

There is also a printable version of the history of these kinds of communities. I thought this was a good addition to the page.

A third video "Escaped" speak to Carol Jessop the former wife of one of the religious leaders. She was used before but this clip is an interview which goes into her personal experience on a similar compound. It was an excellent addition - very good.

At the bottom of the page the article also allows readers to rate the story. It received a four out of five rating.

Overall the piece was good. The text was well written and introduced information from multiple sources. It allowed readers to comment and all the related videos were effective in enhancing the story. Recorded at different times, the videos also show how information can be made available to the public as it is unfolding.

Critiquing Multimedia 2/3

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24021232/

I am sure you have had those days when all the hours in the day just do not seem enough. On to multimedia critique number two.

My second article is "Parker's grand finale lifts Lady Vols to title." Like the one before it, this article is also published by the Associated Press.

The Associated Press and Reuters are two of the leading media houses across the world. I especially love their photography; their shots are truly a sight to behold.

It was more the accompanying photo than the headline that grabbed me. The photo is very effective. The photographer captured the excitement of the moment. It was well composed. Notice how the photographer sacrificed the lower parts of the bodies so that he could zoom in on the emotional display. The manipulation of depth of field also added to the shot as the subjects stood out against the blurred background. The placement of the photo, right next to the first three paragraphs, also enhanced the story.

I liked the lead. It was very effective. It drew me into the story. The use of words such as "bruised" and "braced" helped to paint a good picture of the adversities that Parker had to overcome to play this particular match.

Reading the first three or so paragraphs I was impressed because the reporter elevated what could have been a run of the mill who won what, where and how kind of story to a nice news feature type article.

Again there is an ad. that breaks the flow.

The college basketball video links under the photo on the right are applicable. While they do not focus on the same sex they share the same broad theme which is college basketball. When I clicked on "Kansas takes the championship" I was awed by the beautiful Olympics ad that ran before the video clip. The clip itself was of good quality and the use of black background was aesthetically pleasing while making the video easier to see.

Underneath the video links is a set of opinion links - also on college basketball. They are not bad but I would have liked to see something focused on women. The article is about women's basketball and putting links to something about women would balance the use of the men's videos above.

Overall the multimedia piece was too text heavy. By the end of the article it became less of a story and more about statistics. After the college basketball segments there is only one other multimedia element - a slide show. It largely focused on men. Of the 12 photos viewed only one featured women and they were swimmers not basketball players.

The piece could have been greatly enhanced by audio clips from Parker and/or her team mates. More photos from the game could have been used in the body of the piece. The article is represented by another photo in the synopsis on the main page; it could have been used on the actual article page as well. Also one or more video clips of the best shots of the game would be good.

Critiquing multimedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23940682/

My first critique is of the MSNBC article "Chasing Britney leads to evolution of paparazzi Photogs find themselves a part of her story; undercover work now a rarity" The story was updated by the Associated Press but I did not see a byline for the article.

Now, I am not fan of Britney but the headline pulled me. I thought evolution of paparazzi? Photogos find themselves a part of her story? As a student in an online course that speak of the backpack journalist who does everything and as someone who has worked as reporter, photographer and radio article writer/news reporter on the same assignment this got me ears up. I thought "oh no new laws etc.!"

The article itself was OK. The photo at the beginning of the story was good. It worked very well with the headline to show the reader what the article is about. I loved the photo of the paparazzi reflection in the rear view mirror as he takes a shot. I noted the use of video and slide show inserts. I thought they were effective in helping to build the story.

The click for related articles button was effective as well. However, I did not particularly like the most popular boxes. For the most part they were not related to the story. The same goes for the big ads smack in the middle of the article. For me it broke the flow and I did not like meeting them on the page. I however acknowledge the need to generate revenue.

Traveling boots, cricket and life goes on

It has been a while since I last wrote. I have been busy. I am currently in Trinidad for a media related project. I landed last Sunday. I was without Internet for days and when I finally got it I had some "fires" I needed to put out. There is at least one glowing ember left but hopefully it will out by the end of today.

This is the last week of my online course and I need to complete my last skills assignment. This week we did multi-media. My assignment is to critique three multi media packages from MSNBC. Stay tuned they will be added shortly.

I hope to continue this blog after the course is finished but we will see how it goes. I want to look at issues such as the China and its relationship to the Caribbean. I watched a feature on channel nine in Trinidad (Its logo is a 'C' but I have no clue as to what it means) yesterday which said that Chinese products have taken the world by storm and that if Latin America and the Caribbean do not do something they may lose their tiny foothold in the world economy. The feature shows garment factories etc in China, tonnes of Chinese toys, cellular phones and other Chinese products that are sold on the world market at very competitive rates. The reporter also interviewed about three Latin American consumers; the one that stood out was a woman who said she preferred to use Chinese things because they are cheaper and easier to find.

Relating this to the Caribbean where a number of the nation states are receiving or have received aid from China I am asking myself how this will play out. Having taken aid from China we (the Caribbean) cannot necessarily dictate to that country - even if the region was not taking aid as the emerging super power they would be hard to stop.

This then takes me to a Time Magazine article published in the December 17 edition about author of "A Bull in China" Jim Rogers who gives his take on the power of China. It is a short piece but it does add the the pot.

According to Rogers, "Just as the 19th century belonged to England and the 20th century to America so the 21st century will be China's turn to set the a genda rule the roost"

One thing for sure all eyes are on China now for the Olympics. Did you catch the news where they had to out the torch three times because of Free Tibet protesters?

Anyway, home work time.

One more thing. I attended my first ever Cricket match at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad on Sunday. I took photos for my online course assignment. The West Indies won 254/4 against Sri Lanka. It was the first win at the Oval since 2000.

Pulling into the station - toot toot

Since starting this blog I read that they should be informative but not too long so that the reader is not lost (The same applies to print media). Anyway, in order to not have a blog that went on forever I cut the previous blog and continued in a fresh blog.

My five not so great headlines are:

*1 “Gangs, criminality and misdevelopment”
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=161297381

This says absolutely nothing to me. What about gangs, criminality and misdevelopment? Are gangs a product of misdevelopment? It just seems like the person who wrote the headline picked three key words and said “presto!” Also, is there a word as misdevelopment or is it under development. If there is please educate me.

*2 “‘The nowayrians’ Study shows vagrants getting lazier”
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,75537.html

I would have gone with a shorter headline. Something like “Vagrants getting lazier, study says” or maybe just stop at "Vagrants getting lazier". The use of the “nowayrians” I am sure is meant to grab but for me I was more of a deterrent. It did not flow. That term could have been left for the story.

*3 “Coconut killer”
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080322T200000-0500_133771_OBS_COCONUT_KILLER_.asp

I did not like this one at all. It is about a disease that is threatening the coconuts in Jamaica. It lacks action. Even if it said Coconut killer rampant or something like that it would be better in my book. A reasonable headline would be “Disease threatens coconut industry.” I am sure others could even improve upon my suggestion but “Coconut killer” does nothing for me. What about the coconut killer?

*4 Beach limers do it on sand
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161297447

This headline has nothing to do with the story. It is very suggestive as well. When I read the headline I thought it meant persons were having sex on the beach. The story is about beach goers ignoring warnings to stay away from the beaches because of choppy waters. The headline, in my estimation, while it is short and catchy suggests a total other thing from what the article is about. It is in poor taste.

*5 Class Axe
http://www.nationnews.com/story/309862660017350.php

Like the others before it this headline just does not say enough. The axe is a good strong image but a better headline would have been "Classes axed at Drakes Christian School".

The little engine that could - chug chug

I am almost there. The final section for this weeks assignment was to find five great web headlines , five not so great ones and post my comments here. A lot of them are from today but one or two are from earlier this week.

Great:
*1. "No magic wand - Shaw".
http://jamaicagleaner.com/gleaner/20080323/lead/lead5.html

It was posted today March 23.2008 on The Gleaner Company's website. Now the Gleaner is a newspaper which posts some of its printed news articles online for the tech savvy among us. So the headlines is not only on the Internet but also in print. I like it because it is simple and to the point. It is budget time in the Jamaican parliament and what this headlines says in a four words is that Finance Minister Audley Shaw warning against miracles. We changed governments for the first time in 18 years so it is a new government, a new Minister of Finance and even more dire economic straights. Everyone is looking for a pay increase and Shaw is saying "I have no magic wand so do not get your hopes up."

*2 “Woman stuck on toilet for two years, police say.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/12/woman.stuck.on.toilet.ap/index.html
I read this one on CNN website earlier this week. I went and looked for it so I could show it here. It was the headline that caught me. I thought it was bizarre and nasty and wanted to know why – so I read the story. Also, by the “police say” the writer also adds credibility to the story because I would have skipped past it otherwise.

*3. “Caribbean wary of US credit crunch”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2008/03/080320_creditcrunchcaribbean.shtml
I read this on BBC Caribbean’s website. The state of the US economy and its repercussions for the Caribbean is being watched very carefully by economists and ordinary citizens as well. Some of our country’s debts are serviced in US currency, we sometimes do business transactions in US currency and we travel to the US for business and for pleasure (to name a few reasons for disquiet). This headline brings the concern of the region to the fore in six words. I think it is a good headline.

*4 “Greeks test Beijing torch lighting, fear Tibet protests”
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL23968420080323?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
I do not know what the average headline should be but I think this one may be pushing it. It is still good though because shows the relationship between the Beijing Olympics and the recent uprisings in Tibet. It could stopped at lighting but the news value increases when the readers becomes aware of the impact the protest are having and may have as the Peoples Republic of China prepares for the Olympics in August.

*5 JAMAICA-HEALTH-Government says upcoming budget will honour election promises
from CMC News Headlines
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The six-month old Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government says it is not worried about being able to keep its election promises, just days before tabling it first budget.

I have no URL for this site because one has to pay to view more than the above. The headline “Government says upcoming budget will honour election promises” may be a little long but it is topical and to the point. I find that, perhaps because they only have a few lines to entice the reader to buy the article from them, the CMC news headlines tend to be very well written. The lead also follows very well of the headline giving context and starting the story. I like it.

Three blogs I like best ... (thinking)

It is assignment time again. I am supposed to be telling you (the reader) about three blogs that I like and why. I am in a quandary - I have been reading news feeds not blogs.

What to do? Well I am to post comments on my classmates blogs as well so why not kill two birds with one stone?

* Blog one: http://inamban.blogspot.com/

I liked the tone and colour but for a detailed break down read my comments in the blog titled "Comments on blog".

*Blog two: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=113


This blog is on my Google reader and to tell the truth I am behind on reading it. I like it for many reasons. The person in charge, Ross Sheil, is an old colleague of mine. He is from Britain and a very good journalist in my opinion. The above URL takes you to a post about BBC hosting a Caribbean crime debate.

I like the layout. It is breezy and welcoming. It is well organized as well. To the right is a pane that is sectioned into three main parts: categories (politics, science etc), archives and recent entries. You see that there is a lot of information there but it is not cluttered. It also facilitates research with a search this site area.

I especially liked the photo it is quite appropriate. I wonder how he got it there - I would like to try that on my blog. The photo reminds me of a deep rural St. Elizabeth. The bread basket of my county, St. Elizabeth is where most of our produce comes from. It is known for its red ore, its melons, cantaloupe, scallion thyme and also shrimp. The young lady walking the dirt path to the house is reminds me so much of St. Elizabeth. The photo also plays into the "Jamaica" aspect of blog because it is a kind of idyllic shot.

*Blog three: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/this-week-in-the-digital-photography-school-forums-36/

I love photography and I am hoping this blog will be helpful. I have not delved deeply into it as yet but it is a work in progress.

Easter weekend - bun and cheese anyone?

For those who do not know, in Jamaica bun and cheese is the staple snack at Easter time. It is an age old tradition. Some families make their own and others, like mine, buy. I do not know how it began but if I find out I will post it.

This week I have been reading a lot, thanks to Google reader. It really helps. I have never spent so much time infront of my computer reading news before. I read about St. Vincent and the Grenadines PM Ralph Gonsalves' concerns with the US credit crunch. Also the related story of Grenada's financial pundits worrying over what will happen now that Bear Stearns has been sold to JP Morgan. Apparently they had an agreement with Bear Stearns to help restructure the island's external debt after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. This is a big deal. If the hurricane does not wreck your country's economy, the cost of rebuilding can. If the agreement is not taken up by JP Morgan it could have serious repercussions on Grenada's economy.

I also read about Tibet and Taiwan's struggle with China. I was especially enlightened when I after doing further readings on the Taiwan discovered that there were two Chinas. Yes, for a young journalist this is terrible. As one of my professors would say, "You cannot learn history without the geography."

But in my defence most of the news I have read say China not Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and speak as if there is only one. In fact, according to my research that is the problem. The PRC under The One-China policy claim to be the "only" China and people who want to do business with them have to agree to this policy. Taiwan wants to join the UN but the body only recognizes PRC.

News just read - Taiwan has a new president. Ma Ying-Jeou. One of his campaign promises was to open direct shipping and air links with China. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/22/taiwan.elections/index.html?eref=rss_world

Why is this news? Because China is an emerging world power. Because of the Beijing Olympics and the need to be aware of what is happening in its host country. Because the Chinese government has ties in Jamaica, providing funds for infrastructural development.

RSS Feeds - what I'm reading

I mentioned in a previous blog that I am using Google reader. Here are some of the RSS feeds I subscribe to:

*BBC Caribbean
*BBC International
*CNN World
*Reuters Top News
*The Jamaica Gleaner
*Jamaica Observations

I was surprised to find that a number of the Caribbean newspapers do not have RSS feeds. So far The Gleaner wesbsite was the only site I found with a feed. The Observer, although it has more information - as in more of the actual printed paper - on its site than The Gleaner, does not have a RSS feed. It has a blog called Jamaica Observations. At first glance it looks good. I look forward to reading it. I also subscribe to blogs such as Photocritic, Flickr, Photojojo and Beijing Olympic Games 2008

Above is a screenshot of my Google reader.

RSS Feeds - the new way of reading

This week I learnt how to start my own web log (blog), how to access a RSS reader and how to subscribe to feeds and news searches. (Since you are reading my blog you can tell me what you think.)

So, what is a RSS Feed?

RSS is an acronym which means Real Simple Syndication – its sounds technical doesn’t it? It is not as complicated as it sounds.

A RSS document or feed allows the user (you and I) to subscribe to information – a blog, news pages or podcasts – which are delivered directly to their RSS reader or Web browser. It is delivered in real time that is, the information is updated as soon as it becomes available.

What is the benefit?

RSS feeds make it easier for the reader to access his or her information as instead of visiting multiple websites to get the information it is collected and displayed in one place.

The information is collected and displayed in what is called a RSS reader. This is simply an application that aggregates or gathers information from sources such as blogs and websites in one place. There are two types of RSS readers: web- based readers that can be accessed via the internet and stand alone readers which the user downloads to their computer.

I use a web-based reader. My reason for doing so is simple I want to be able to access my reader from wherever I am. Both readers (web-based and pc-based) require the internet to access the information but only one requires my personal computer and I may not always have it with me.

I use Google reader. My main email address is at yahoo but I find the Google reader easier to use. (Maybe I will switch as I become more tech savvy but we will see.)

On becoming a techie

Since its conception in 1990s the internet has grown from an almost elitist entity to a space where anyone can have a voice. In recognition of this phenomenon, and my lack of skills in this particular department, I recently signed up for an internet course on digital journalism. It is a four week course. While I am only in week two, I have learnt a lot.

In week one I learnt how to take a screen of webpage using the print screen button. Can you imagine I always had the button on my lap top and never once wondered what it was for? I did not ponder its use because it had no bearing on my life. I know Microsoft word and basic photo editing because these are my bread and butter tools. At the time it did not matter that I did not know all the buttons on my keyboard because as far as I was concerned I knew what I needed to know. But is true what they say, “Knowledge is power.” Since learning about this tool I am anxious to use it again. Who knows maybe you will see it in use here.

Life is like navigating uncharted waters somewhere in the Antartic. It is exciting and scary at the same time because one is never sure what will happen. It is a risk. You set goals and you work towards them but even with hours of planning the only way to know is to 'do'. Life is what you make it. I am about to make another step, chart a new path, I hope the end is what I envisioned and more.